I've spent the whole day finally setting up my Wordpress site and getting it to a stage that I'm happy with. I've actually had the Wordpress domain for over a year now but just hadn't sat down and found the time to get it ready. For now I have both my blogger page and my wordpress page active but I will soon be redirecting all traffic to my wordpress site. The link is bugsbeautyblog.com

I ended up having to spend more than I was expecting to in order to get a layout I was happy with but I think the theme that I have is very close to how I want my site to look. I'd really appreciate some feedback, suggestions, constructive critiscism about the new site so please comment and let me know your thoughts.

I went to have my bangs trimmed the other week and my hair dresser used a dry shampoo in my hair that was amazing. Now I've used plenty of different dry shampoos in my time including ones by Toni & Guy, Batiste and Tresemme but the one she used is hands down the best I've tried. The dry shampoo is from the Juuce range and is called Dirty Deeds. The awesome name and cute pink packaging wasn't why I loved this product but it definitely didn't hurt!

The range is created by Hairjamm who are a family owned company from Brisbane in Australia. The reason why I love this dry shampoo so much is because it actually does what I expect of a dry shampoo! I don't know about you but most dry shampoos I've tried make my hair feel greasier, dirtier or just like it's full of product. This stuff on the other hand literally gets rid of the oil at the roots and makes my hair feel really light and clean again. It gives me back my volume and I don't feel at all like I have product in it.

I only use this product on the day after washing my hair as my bangs and hair at my crown can tend to get a bit flat. I spray this stuff in at the roots and I get that volume back pronto and I tried to capture the difference for you below. The photo on the left is prior to the dry shampoo and the photo on the right is after. Hopefully you can see that my hair has a lot more volume to it and doesn't look as piecey. Granted the difference isn't that monumental since this picture was taken on a day when my hair wasn't very oily but it still made a big difference in terms of styling.

The scent on the product is also quite pleasant. It has a bit of that hairspray type scent that's a bit inevitable with dry shampoos but it also has a bit of fruity scent to it that I like. I wouldn't recommend using this or any other dry shampoo too many times in between washings and probably suggest sticking with 2 days max as there's only so much a dry shampoo can do.

I purchased mine from my hair favourite hair salon, Soul Scissors (who I highly recommend you check out if you live in the west of Melbourne) for $13AU. I did a quick search online and it seems like you can purchase it with relative ease from various online hair stores for between $13-$20. I think the price is pretty reasonable as you get a decent sized can and, for something that's actually effective, I'd repurchase for sure!

Have you tried this product before? Are there any dry shampoos you'd recommend?

Saturday, June 16, 2012

I've been in a major purple mood this winter and I've been reaching for anything in the mauve, purple and plum family when I get dressed in the morning and when I do my makeup. One of my favourite purple toned shadows has been NARS Lhasa eyeshadow which was from the NARS Spring '12 collection. I picked it up while I was in Thailand in March this year but haven't had a chance to post about it yet.

Lhasa is one of NARS' single eyeshadows and comes in the same rubbery compact as all of the compacts in the NARS range. The shadow is about half the size of a NARS blush compact and holds quite a lot of product at 2.2g. For comparison, a MAC single eyeshadow contains 1.5g of product.

The eyeshadow comes with an included mirror which I never understand in eyeshadow singles. It's not like you're going to take your tiny eyeshadow around with you and use the supplied mirror to do your makeup in! It sells for $24 US/$39AU but I picked mine up for a little under $30 in Thailand.

The shade is a really pretty mauve that leans very cool and looks almost grey in some lights. In the pan you can see this really pretty silver shimmer that adds to the cool tones in this shadow. This is one of those purple shades that I think anyone can pull off because it's really more of a neutral shade than anything else.

The shadow itself has a really nice texture and is really easy to apply and blend. The shadow without a primer gives a really pretty wash of colour to the lid but applying it over a primer intensifies the colour quite a lot. The swatch below shows Lhasa without a primer on the left and with Urban Decay Primer Potion on the right.

In the edges where the shadow has blended out, you can almost see a taupe tone to it which makes it a nice shade to wear in the crease if you want something that's a bit softer. I've mainly been using it as a lid shade and I took a picture of the eye look that I used it in the other day.

To get the look I did the following:
1. Prime lids using Urban Decay Primer Potion
2. Apply Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in shade #15 to the mobile lid. This cream shadow is a really beautiful golden taupe shade.
3. Apply NARS Lhasa eyeshadow to the lid
4. Apply MAC Sketch eyeshadow to the outer v and into the crease
5. Apply MAC All that Glitters shadow to the inner third of the lid
6. Blend out the crease with MAC Bamboo eyeshadow
7. Apply MAC Solar White eyeshadow to the inner corner
8. Line eyes with Shiseido The Makeup Automatic fine eyeliner
9.Apply Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Lifting Mascara to lashes

To finish off my purple look I painted my nails with Essie Splash of Grenadine which is one of my favourite shades. It reminds me of summer and adds a bit of brightness to an otherwise dreary and cold day.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I get bored with my hair really easily so, since it had been a while since I last coloured my hair and as Australia's in winter at the moment, I thought it was the perfect time to add a bit of red to my hair. My thoughts of a new colour just happened to coincide with the people at John Frieda giving me the chance to try out their new Precision Foam Colour so I took it as a sign to dye my hair ASAP!﻿

The difference between this hair colour system and other at home kits is that the dye comes out as a foam which is meant to mean no drips and make it easier to apply. I've seen a few other foam kits around but I hadn't picked one up because I was dubious about the difference a bit of foam would make. I decided to go in judgment free though as I chose my shade. The shade selection is pretty impressive and I had a bit of difficulty trying to narrow down my choice!

In the end I went for the mid tone red, shade 5R- Radiant Red which is a medium red brown.

My hair going in was quite dark and darker than the darkest recommended 'current shade' on the pack but I chose it anyway. I often use medium tone reds in my dark hair as I love the richness and subtle red tint that's added when I'm out in the sun. If your hair is dark like mine and you want the shade on the pack, I'd recommend going to a hair salon as you'll need to lighten your hair first.

The pack included a bottle of developer and a pump, a little bottle of colourant, a conditioner and some disposable gloves:

This product is really easy to use and involves minimal steps. All you do is:

1. Add the colourant to the developer
2. close the lid and tilt it upside down.
3. Tilt it the other way and repeat 5 times to mix the two products.
4. Screw on the pump
5. Squeeze the middle of the container to release the foam into your palm
6. Part your hair and apply the foam starting with your roots and then applying to your ends.

7. Once the foam is in your hair massage it in for a few minutes then fashion your hair into a stylish bee hive like below ;)
8. Leave the product in for 30 minutes max
9. Rinse out the product and condition with the supplied conditioner and then style as usual.

Here's a before and after. My hair before was very dark and dull and after it's got a lot more depth to it and a lovely auburn tint.

My thoughts on this products are that.... I LOVE IT! I have used so many different at home hair colours in my time but this one blows them all out of the water! This system is really easy to use and apply and, as promised, there are literally no drips! When ever I've used the standard at home colours; my bathroom sink, counters and floor have paid for it with big splotches of colour, not to mention my skin and the clothes I'm wearing at the time! My bathroom was literally spot free when I was done with this stuff and I didn't have any product dripping down my neck.

I also noticed that when I rinsed my hair, apart from the initial flood of colour when doing my first rinse, I have had little to no colour coming out in any subsequent washes. This is pretty impressive when using red shades as I find them to be notorious for bleeding out colour even 3 washes after a colour application. My hair and scalp also felt good after I applied this colour. My scalp is quite sensitive but there was no irritation and my hair was still quite manageable without product. It's important that, as with all hair dyes, you do a patch test at least 24 hours before. The supplied conditioner is good but apart from the initial rinse, I haven't used it again.

I have to admit that I actually don't have any cons to add for this product and I would definitely repurchase this and recommend it. I'm not sure what the exact price of this product is but a quick google search brought up a RRP of about $20AUD which is pretty standard for at home hair colours.

Have you tried this product or something like it? What do you think of it?